Students learn best when they are in environments in which they feel safe, supported, and accepted. For many evolving readers, however, this environment may not exist in their classroom. Consequently, students with reading difficulties experience levels of stress in the classroom that may impact their growth as readers.

This study seeks to explore the perceptions of the main stakeholders in education on the impact the classroom environment may have on the reader who is struggling. An exploratory sequential mixed methods research design will be used for the study which will explore the perceptions of teachers, students, and parents as they engage and participate in a community of learning and will be done in three phases. The first qualitative phase of data collection will be done via semi-structured interviews and focus groups. Qualitative data fromfocus groups participants’ responseswill be analysed using an interpretive approach to establish how teachers, students and parents perceive emotional safety and its importance to the evolving reader. Results from Phase 1 will be used to modify a survey instrument before the implementation of Phase 2.

The second phase of data collection will involve the administering of the modified survey instrument. Findings of the survey questionnaires will be analysed using a combination of descriptive and inferential statistics. The final phase will be an integration of the findings of the preceding phases, where the results will be analysed for complementarity, divergence, or convergence. The integration of paradigms is done in the analysis of RQ 5, which asks: In what ways do interviews with participants elucidate quantitative differences in the perceptions teachers, students and parents hold about the impact of the emotional environment on the evolving reader? The joint display will juxtapose the qualitative, quantitative findings alongside meta-inferences.

The overall findings of the study have both micro and macro significance. On the micro level it will gather useful qualitative evidence that has the potential to increase student success academically as well as improve students’ emotional well-being. On the macro level it can provide information for practitioners to improve practice and inform policies.

Mr. ROLAND SEALY holds a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in History from Andrews University, Michigan, U.S.A. He also holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Education and a Master of Education (Reading) from the University of the West Indies (UWI). He is a former Secondary School teacher who witnessed the plight of students, especially boys and young men, who struggle with reading difficulties. This led him to form the NGO Positive Outlook-Uplifting Interventions (POUI), a counselling and educational intervention centre which focuses on family and couples counselling and literacy interventions, along with his wife, a Marriage and Family Therapist. He is currently the Chair of the Teacher Education Department in the School of Education, University of the Southern Caribbean, and facilitates courses for pre-service teachers in literacy and pedagogical principles. He is currently pursuing a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Education with a focus on school transformation through social and emotional intelligence.

He is a member of the International Literacy Association and serves as the Secretary of the Trinidad and Tobago Association of Teacher Educators. Mr. Sealy is also fervently interested in the development of emotional intelligence, especially in boys and men.